Thursday, January 26, 2017

Not a Good Start

I know it hasn't even been a week yet, but I can't say the Donald Trump presidency is off to a great--or even a good--start. Friday's inaugural speech did not to build my confidence in the man that I did not vote for. His new definition of "patriotism" greatly concerns me--as I believe that isolationism will only make the world more dangerous for all of us.

Then came the embarrassing fight with the media over estimated crowd numbers at the Inauguration ceremony on the National Mall. It just set the tone that the administration is going to be petty, pouty and will attempt to wage all out war on insignificant things. It also showed that the Celebrity President cares only about popularity and ratings.

A few days later came the shutdown of Federal Twitter accounts that featured posts the administration didn't like. That makes me wonder if it is President Trump himself that is monitoring all of these Twitter feeds--or if there is a "Secretary of Social Media" set up somewhere in the White House alerting the Oval Office to potentially "offensive" materials coming from the National Parks Service.

Now comes an mandate that all scientific studies conducted by Federal agencies have to submit their findings to political appointees before being published. This brings up the possibility of scientific data being manipulated to win White House approval--or very important information being withheld or delayed--at a detriment to the American people. I don't mind if a study finds the Earth is getting warmer--because I am not a Global Warming Denier. I'm a Global Warming Enjoyer.

But most disturbing to me is how a man in office less than a week has become very comfortable with the Executive Order. Those of us Constitutionalists who screamed bloody murder when President Obama used nothing more than a computer and a pen to affect major change on the country should be just as upset by President Trump taking the same course of action. Yes, most of Trump's executive orders have been to reverse Obama's executive orders--but the more he uses the process, the more accustomed President Trump will become to just dictating an order and signing it into the law of the land. And you had better believe that he will have experts just as "qualified" to find ways to work around Congress as President Obama did.

There is a long way to go--but let's hope things start changing for the better in the White House fast.